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Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Turkish prosecutor demands life sentences for protesting soccer fans

Newly elected Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined
this week a host of Middle Eastern and North African leaders seeking to portray
protest as terrorism or a threat to national security with the indictment of 35
militant soccer fans on charges of trying to topple his Islamist government.
Turkish prosecutors have demanded that they be sentenced to life in prison.

The indictment of the members of Carsi, the popular militant
support group of storied Istanbul club Besiktas JK, which played a key role in
last year’s mass Gezi Park anti-government protests coincided with calls in
Egypt, reportedly supported by Egyptian general-turned-president Abdel Fatah Al
Sisi, to outlaw the ultras. The ultras are groups of street battled-hardened
soccer fans who were crucial to the popular uprising in 2011 overthrow of President
Hosni Mubarak and subsequent opposition to military rule.

Basing his charges on wiretaps, Adem Meral, an Istanbul Terrorism
and Organized Crime Unit prosecutor, charged that the soccer fans had not been
driven to join the protests by environmental concerns and opposition to plans
to replace the historic Gezi Park on the city’s iconic Taksim Square with an
Ottoman-style shopping mall. Instead, Mr. Meral said in his 38-page indictment:
“It is understood that they were trying to overthrow the democratically elected
Turkish government and to facilitate this objective, they were attempting to
capture the Prime Ministry offices in Ankara and Istanbul.”

The indictment cited as evidence statements by various
defendants in tapped telephone conversations. One defendant said he was “not
interested in the construction of the mall or the demolition of trees” but
wanted to “topple the government.” Another suggested that the protests could
lead to civil war, adding that “we will today occupy the prime ministry's
residence.” Others suggested attacking the police to fuel public anger.

Turkey was criticized by its European and US allies as well
as human rights group for its heavy- handed efforts to halt the protests in
which at least eight people were killed and some 8,000 others wounded.

In line with Mr. Erdogan’s assertions at the time that the
protests against his increasingly haughty style of government were a foreign
conspiracy, the indictment charged that Carsi that traces its roots to the far
left and positions itself as anarchist, had sought to create the impression
that Turkey was experiencing an Arab spring by feeding pictures of clashes with
police to foreign journalists.

Charging that Carsi was an armed group, the indictment
accused Erol Ozdil, described as one of the group’s leaders, with distributing
torches and explosives to his colleagues. It said police had found smoke grenades
and gas masks in Mr. Ozdil’s house.

Some 20 members of Carsi were initially arrested a year ago
on charges of belonging to an illegal organization, but were later released. A
video released at the time by the prime minister’s Anti-Terrorism Office – Mr.
Erdogan was serving at the time his third term as prime minister – warned that
protests were a precursor to terrorism.

The 55-second video featuring a young woman
demonstrator-turned suicide bomber warned the public that “our youth, who are
the guarantors of our future, can start with small demonstrations of resistance
that appear to be innocent, and after a short period of time, can engage
without a blink in actions that may take the lives of dozens of innocent
people.” Throughout the video, the words ‘before it is too late’ were displayed.

The trial of the soccer fans for which a date has yet to be
set follows several ongoing court proceedings against other protesters in which
prosecutors are also seeking harsh sentences. The cases are being prosecuted by
a judiciary that like the police force in recent months has been cleansed of
alleged supporters of Fethullalh Gulen, a self-exiled Islamic cleric and head
of one of the world’s richest Islamist groupings that Mr. Erdogan accuses of
attempting to create a parallel state.

Mr. Erdogan openly turned on the group after scores of
people, including the sons of three of his ministers, were detained on
corruption charges. Subsequent tapes leaked to the media suggested that several
of his associates as well as members of his family were involved.

Amnesty International said in a report last year on the Gezi
Park protests that the brutal suppression by police and the subsequent campaign
against militant soccer fans “significantly undermined the claims of (Mr.
Erdogan’s) ruling Justice and Development Party to be delivering responsible,
rights-respecting government and exposed a striking intolerance of opposing
voices. The smashing of the Gezi Park protest movement has involved a string of
human rights violations – many of them on a huge scale. These include: the
wholesale denial of the right to peaceful assembly and violations of the rights
to life, liberty and the freedom from torture and other ill-treatment. The vast
majority of police abuses already look likely to go unpunished, while many of those
who organized and participated in the protests have been vilified, abused – and
now face prosecution on unfair or inflated charges.”

Mr. Erdogan’s government has attempted over the last year to
depoliticize stadia by banning the display and chanting of political slogans
during matches, demanding that spectators sign a pledge to refrain from
political expression before entering a stadium, and introducing an e-ticket
system that would allow authorities to identify fans. Carsi’s response to the
government efforts was to chant during matches, "everywhere is Taksim,
everywhere is resistance."

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies as Nanyang Technological University in
Singapore, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of
Würzburg and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer, and a forthcoming book with the same title.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile